See also: 1976 in South Africa, other events of 1977, 1978 in South Africa and the Timeline of South African history. For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). ... This is a timeline of the History of South Africa. ...

Events

January

• 8 January - the railway line near Soweto is maliciously damaged

January 8 is the 8th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Johannesburg, including Soweto, from the International Space Station Soweto is an urban area in Johannesburg, in Gauteng province South Africa whose northern boundary begins about 15km south-west of central Johannesburg. ...

February

• 1 February - The Bantustan of KwaZulu is granted self-governance
• 24 February - A bomb explodes at the Daveyton Police Station which cause only structural damage

February 1 is the 32nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Map of the black homelands in South Africa as of 1986 Bantustan refers to any of the territories designated as tribal homelands for black South Africans and Namibians during the apartheid era. ... Flag of KwaZulu KwaZulu was a bantustan in South Africa, intended by the apartheid government as a semi-independent homeland for the Zulu people. ... February 24 is the 55th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Daveyton is a township near Benoni on the east Rand, Gauteng, South Africa. ...

March

• 7 March - A Pretoria restaurant destroyed by a bomb

March 7 is the 66th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (67th in Leap years). ... City motto: Praestantia Praevaleat Pretoria (May Pretoria Be Pre-eminent In Excellence) Province Gauteng Area  - % water 1,644 km² 0. ...

April

• 1 April - Pik Botha, South Africa's ambassador in the United States of America is appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs.

April 1 is the 91st day of the year (92nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 274 days remaining. ... Pik Botha Roelof Frederik Pik Botha (born April 27, 1932, in Rustenburg, Transvaal, South Africa), is a South African politician who served as the countrys foreign minister in the last years of the apartheid era. ...

June

• 4 June - Father S. Mkhatshwa, Secretary of the South African Catholic Bishops' Conference, is served a 5 year restriction order
• 15 June - Monty Motlaung and Solomon Mahlangu, two Umkhonto we Sizwe cadres are arrested by police in warehouse in Goch Street, Johannesburg. Two bystanders are killed during the arrest. Later Motlaung is beaten so badly in police custody that he ends up brain damaged and Mahlangu was tried and hanged
• 29 June - The United Party is renamed the New Republic Party

June 4 is the 155th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (156th in leap years), with 210 days remaining. ... June 15 is the 166th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (167th in leap years), with 199 days remaining. ... For other uses of Umkhonto, see Umkhonto (disambiguation) Umkhonto we Sizwe (or MK), translated Spear of the Nation, was the military wing of the African National Congress (ANC). ... City motto: Unity in Development Province Gauteng Mayor Amos Masondo Area  - % water 1,644 km² 0. ... June 29 is the 180th day of the year (181st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 185 days remaining. ... The United Party was South Africas ruling political party between 1934 and 1948. ...

July

• 15 July - The railway line at Umlazi in Durban is maliciously damaged
• 29 July - The "Antipolis", a Greek oil tanker, rans aground on the rocks near Victoria Road in Oudekraal, Cape Province while being towed to a wreckers yard

July 15 is the 196th day (197th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 169 days remaining. ... Umlazi is a township on the east coast of South Africa. ... Central area of Durban Durban is a city in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa (29°53′S 31°03′E). ... July 29 is the 210th day (211th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 155 days remaining. ... Oil is a generic term for organic liquids that are not miscible with water. ... Under the Union of South Africa and after that under the Republic of South Africa, the old Cape Colony became the Cape of Good Hope Province (though it was commonly known as the Cape Province). ...

August

• A Soviet surveillance satellite detects South Africa's nuclear test preparations and alerts the United States

Soviet redirects here. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 km (11 mi) above the hypocenter. ...

September

• 6 September - Steve Biko is arrested at a police roadblock under the Terrorism Act No 83 of 1967

September 6 is the 249th day of the year (250th in leap years). ... Stephen Biko Stephen Bantu Biko (December 18, 1946 – September 12, 1977) was a noted nonviolent anti-apartheid activist in South Africa in the 1960s. ... The Terrorism Act No 83 of 1967 was a law of the South African Apartheid regime until all except section 7 was repealed under the Internal Security and Intimidation Amendment Act 138 of 1991. ...

November

• The railway at between Dunswart (Boksburg) and Apex (Benoni) is maliciously damaged and a train driver is slightly injured
• 25 November - 14 people are injured when a bomb explodes at the Carlton Centre
• 30 November - A bomb explodes on a Pretoria bound train

Boksburg is a city on the East Rand of Gauteng, South Africa. ... Benoni is a town in the South African province of Gauteng. ... November 25 is the 329th (in leap years the 330th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... November 30 is the 334th day (335th on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 31 days remaining, as the final day of November. ...

December

• 12 December - Guerrillas attack the Germiston police station, no one hurt
• 14 December - A bomb explodes at Benoni's railway station
• 22 December - An unexploded bomb is found in OK bazaars (a nationwide supermarket) in Roodepoort

December 12 is the 346th day (347th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Germiston in the East Rand of Gauteng is South Africas sixth largest city with 70% of the western worlds gold passing through its gold refinery. ... December 14 is the 348th day of the year (349th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Benoni is a town in the South African province of Gauteng. ... December 22 is the 356th day of the year (357th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Roodepoort is a city in Gauteng Province, South Africa. ...

Unknown date

• Former members of the United Party leave and join the Progressive Reform Party, which is renamed the Progressive Federal Party
• Cedric Mayson, a Methodist minister, is banned for 5 years

The United Party was South Africas ruling political party between 1934 and 1948. ... The Progressive Federal Party (PFP) was a South African political party formed in 1977. ... The Progressive Federal Party (PFP) was a South African political party formed in 1977. ... The Methodist movement is a group of denominations of Protestant Christianity. ...

Births

Deaths

• 8 March - Moses Kottler, sculptor, dies in Johannesburg at the age of 81
• 9 September - Leonard Mandla Nkosi, special branch policeman who was a former African National Congress member, is killed
• 12 September - Steve Biko dies in police detention